Fixerguy's Common Sense

One reasonably peaceful Atheists’ view on religion.

My @Quora answer to Why do atheists keep rubbing their non-faith in the face of people with faith (assuming atheists… http://qr.ae/7WqF0L

TL;DR I’ll be just as nice as folks let me be.

While I agree with most of the other great answers here, I’m going to take a slightly different tack. I’ll ask you to be patient with me as it may take me a bit to get there… but there I shall get us.

As so many others have noted atheists don’t generally “rub their non faith in the faces of theists.” We Atheists aren’t generally fond of dismissal prior to investigation either. There are some exceptions to this, of course, but for one have zero respect for folks who practice either of these… it seems jingoist, and childish to me.

From my end of it, and considering the Fact that I’ve never once knocked on a strangers door to “give them the good news” and that I don’t know any atheist who has, the transaction looks a lot more like theists sticking their long noses into my life to assert that I damned well should believe as they do and then having the gall and hubris to get annoyed with me when I slap their noses.

While I write mostly to shred obfuscation in politics I’ve written a bit on religion and Atheisim as well.
Kris Rosvold’s answer to If humans are limited by our sensory and cognitive dimensions, how can an atheist be so sure that there isn’t a god present just because we can’t feel it directly?

The key problem with this question is that it’s front loaded with a very old debate “tactic” which is this:
If you’re afraid that your opponent is going to slam you with something you actually did, either blame them for it, or accuse them of doing it first.

Interestingly enough this is something the Republican Party Brass absolutely excels at. In fact they seem to positively revel in it.

Here’s the simple Reality of the broad situation you describe:

I, and most Atheists, simply don’t care what you believe in your own home/church. In point of Fact, our lack of care is so large and overarching that we and the agnostic folks gave you explicit protection from anyone trying to say that your beliefs should be outlawed.

That protection is found in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. It goes like this:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”

This language is called an Absolute Prohibition, which means precisely what it sounds like, and like the legal broadsword it is, it purposely cuts both ways.

To paraphrase in today’s English: “Congress shall never use the Law to speak about a religion, nor ban its practice.”

Now… this bit protects Theists just as much as it protects Atheists because it explicitly prohibits law from being used at all in discussions around religion… Law can’t be used to enforce religion and can’t be used to ban it.

Let me ask you to use logic and empathy for a bit…
Step into our shoes a moment (or the shoes of any different belief system if that’s easier) and consider why Atheists and Agnostics would give such a gift of protection in our Founding Documents which, by definition, set the boundaries for Our laws?

Now go back and consider the original Question for a moment.

To put a nice sharp point on it: While standing in the shoes of those who have core beliefs so dramatically different from your own, consider why folks who are so interested in “rubbing their disbelief in the faces of Theists” would offer, and consistently hold up as being critically important, such a massive, unassailable, protection of your Right to believe as you will in your home and church.

Who profits from that blatant protection?
See the Dissonance between the Question and the Fact? Why would someone who has such different beliefs act to specifically protect the belief system of others? Especially when those they’re protecting have a long and sordid history of imposing their beliefs, upon others, through any and all tools at hand (including torture)?!
I’ll leave you with my favorite Question: Who profits from this?

Namaste’, Amen, So Be It, Shalom, Allah Akbar, Be Well.

*walks away to ponder the sheer beauty of absolute prohibitions in the law*